Nigeria’s headline inflation rate slowed to 15.43% in July 2026, down from 15.91% in June, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), continuing a sharp decline from the 24.94% recorded in July 2025.
The figures show inflation dropped by 0.48 percentage points month-on-month at the annual level, while the month-on-month inflation rate -which measures the change in prices from June to July alone- stood at 1.57%, itself 0.09% percentage points lower than June’s 1.66%.
The NBS, in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday, said this indicates prices rose at a slower pace in July than they did the previous month.
Over the twelve months ending July 2026, the average CPI rose by 16.89% compared to the prior twelve-month period, a steep 12.21-point drop from the 29.10% recorded a year earlier.
URBAN AND RURAL TRENDS
Urban inflation stood at 16.12% year-on-year in July, with the month-on-month figure easing to 1.90% from 2.13% in June. The twelve-month average for urban inflation was 16.81%, down 13.93 points from 30.74% in July 2025.
Rural inflation, by contrast, rose slightly on a month-on-month basis to 0.78% in July from 0.52% in June, even as the year-on-year rate came in lower at 13.77%. The twelve-month average rural inflation rate was 16.72%, a decline of 10.33 points from 27.05% a year earlier.
FOOD INFLATION
Food inflation eased year-on-year to 20.31% in July, down from 26.20% in July 2025. However, on a month-on-month basis, food prices accelerated to 5.56% in July from 3.75% in June, a jump of 1.82 percentage points that the NBS linked to price changes in items including crayfish, fresh pepper, fresh onions, fresh carrots, rice, water yam, fresh tomatoes, garri, plantain, Beef, egg, guinea corn, ginger, plantain, flour.
The twelve-month average food inflation rate stood at 16.06%, down 14.79 percentage points from 30.85% recorded in July 2025.
CORE INFLATION
Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural products and energy, stood at 14.97% in July 2026 on a year- on- year basis, a decline of 8.98% when compared to the 23.95% recorded in July 2025.
On a month- on- month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 0.15% in July 2026, down by 1.51% compared to June 2026 (1.66%).
The average twelve-month annual inflation rate was 18.09% for the twelve months ending July 2026, which was 8.47% points lower than the 26.56% recorded in July 2025.
